# Set up Julia for a novice
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214
**Category:** General Usage
**Tags:** package
**Created:** [August 23, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214 "2022-08-23T17:21:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ctkelley](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ctkelley)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/1 "2022-08-23T17:21:39Z")
I’d like to write a script that installs a few packages, does `using` to trigger compilation, and replies `yes` to all questions. Is there a way to do this? What I’d like to do is something like
```julia
for pack in [FFTW, SparseSuite, PyPlot, IJulia]
Pkg.add(string(pack))
using pack
replay "y" to all questions
end
```
I have no idea how to begin. Even without the `reply "y"` part, I’m having trouble with looping over a list of packages and doing both add (which uses a string) and using (which does not).
---
### Author:  [@Oscar\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Oscar_Smith)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/2 "2022-08-23T17:28:04Z")
Why not just instantiate an environment?
---
### Author:  [@ctkelley](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ctkelley)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/3 "2022-08-23T17:34:08Z")
I’m still a confused. I’d like to do this in the default environment. Do I write a script to do this? I’d like the user to have to do as little as possible.
My target user will be reading instructions from a web page and not local to my workplace, so I can’t do this myself and send them a .julia tarball.
---
### Author:  [@jling](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jling)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/4 "2022-08-23T17:34:49Z")
you can put the Manifest.toml and Project.toml into the default environment folder
---
### Author:  [@ctkelley](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ctkelley)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/5 "2022-08-23T17:37:06Z")
OK. So when my customer puts the .toml files into a newly created .julia directory and starts Juila, will the packages automatically be added? Do I still have to tell them to do
`using XXX`
for all packages and reply “y” to any questions?
---
### Author:  [@GunnarFarneback](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GunnarFarneback)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/6 "2022-08-23T17:51:13Z")
They will need to run `Pkg.instantiate()`. Notice that you can easily test these scenarios yourself. This gives you a pristine Julia depot unrelated to whatever you have in your `.julia`:
```julia
$ mkdir /tmp/testdepot
$ JULIA_DEPOT_PATH=/tmp/testdepot julia
_
_ _ _(_)_ | Documentation: https://docs.julialang.org
(_) | (_) (_) |
_ _ _| |_ __ _ | Type "?" for help, "]?" for Pkg help.
| | | | | | |/ _` | |
| | |_| | | | (_| | | Version 1.8.0 (2022-08-17)
_/ |\ __'_|_|_|\__'_| | Official https://julialang.org/ release
|__/ |
(@v1.8) pkg> st
Installing known registries into `/tmp/testdepot`
Status `/tmp/testdepot/environments/v1.8/Project.toml` (empty project)
```
---
### Author:  [@ctkelley](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ctkelley)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/7 "2022-08-23T18:13:30Z")
That’ll work, but it’s a bit more effort from my customers than I’d like.
---
### Author:  [@Lilith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Lilith)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/8 "2022-08-23T18:23:17Z")
There is a way to do what you asked for:
```julia
import Pkg
Pkg.activate("project_for_ctkelley_tutorial", shared=true)
for pack in [:FFTW, :SuiteSparse, :PyPlot, :IJulia]
Pkg.add(string(pack))
@eval using $pack
end
```
I took the liberty of adding `Pkg.activate("project_for_ctkelley_tutorial", shared=true)` so that your users won’t have to deal with a default environment with long precompile times down the line.
---
### Author:  [@ctkelley](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ctkelley)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/set-up-julia-for-a-novice/86214/9 "2022-08-23T20:13:50Z")
That does it. Thanks!